"Record Run 2011" clocks up more than 10,000 kilometres in round trip from Rotterdam to Szczecin

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

- New Mercedes-Benz Actros demonstrates fuel efficiency- "Nardo" fuel consumption champion acts as benchmark- Live on the internet from 26 June to 4 July 2011

Rotterdam/Stuttgart, Netherlands/Germany, Jun 24, 2011 - The new Mercedes-Benz Actros is said to consume from three to seven percent less diesel fuel than the current best-selling Actros MP 3, depending on the emissions level. This claim, made by the manufacturer on the occasion of the world premiere a few days ago in Brussels, is now being put to the test in the "Record Run 2011" comparative trial, taking place from 26 June to 2 July 2011. As part of the trial, from Sunday evening a new Actros 1845 LS meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard, and one meeting the Euro 5 standard, will both set off fully laden on what is a typical European regular service run travelling from East to West, on a route from Rotterdam to Szczecin and back again. The statistical basis for comparison is scheduled to be made up of six driving cycles covering around 10,000 kilometres. And acting as the reference truck is the Actros 1844 LS MP 3 fuel consumption champion, in the form of the so-called "Nardo" version which holds the current record regarded as the benchmark. This vehicle achieved world champion status in 2008 with record fuel consumption and CO2 emission savings under laboratory conditions at the Italian race track in Nardo, even gaining an entry in the Guinness World Records in the process. Although the overall vehicle journey covered the same distance of 10,000 km, both the tractor vehicle and semitrailer were aerodynamically optimised for that record attempt.

Unlike that previous attempt, however, the three Mercedes-Benz long-distance truck/trailer combinations taking part in the "Record Run 2011" are travelling on the route from the Netherlands via Germany to Poland and back under regular traffic conditions. Thanks to largely automated driving measures, cruise control, and the same average speeds for all three contestants, as well as simple standard trailers, in this trial it should be possible to ascribe any differences in consumption which are determined exclusively to the individual tractor trucks. The results will finally be determined on Saturday, 2 July 2011, at around midnight, when the three competitors cross the finishing line at the FutureLand in the Rotterdam Europort, after completing their sixth cycle. The vehicles will then be refuelled and measurements taken for the final time at the Shell Portland filling station in the port of Rotterdam. All refuelling, the sealing of fuel tanks and numerous other vehicle components, as well as the fuel consumption assessment, is being carried out by the internationally-recognised expert appraisal company Dekra, thus ensuring that data which has been assessed by a neutral party will then be available from Sunday, 3 July 2011.